Nirvana: A Fairy Tragedy
by The Layman
Summary: Originally "A Week in Nirvana" by Themulcheister, now removed. The graduating class of Fairy Tail Acadamy find themselves moored on the remote Island of Nirvana. Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Erza, and the others soon discover that being shipwrecked was the least of their problems...Fairy Hills AU. Warning: contains all that good stuff you usually find in M rated fics.
1. Path to Nirvana

_Hey there boys and girls, Layman here! And today I'll be giving you a special advance look at my Horror project for next month, Nirvana; a fairy tragedy. _

_This was originally conceived by my good friend and fellow Honorary FT Guild Member Themulchmeister, but he has discontinued it in order to work on other projects. He has passed the reigns on to me, and I shall do my best to finish what he started. _

_FYI, for those who don't know Fairy Tail as well as others, this story takes place in the Fairy Hills spin-off world, which takes the characters of Fairy Tail proper and puts them in a High School setting. _

_Also, this story is rated M, so if you don't like reading those yucky M rated things then this isn't the story for you. For all you demented psychopaths who do enjoy M stuff, then sit back and enjoy the carnage!_

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

SOMEWHERE FAR AWAY FROM THE FIORE COASTLINE:

"_How much further to the Island?" _

"_About 3 nautical Miles."_

"_Phew, we should get quite a catch with the moon out like this-"_

"_HOLY SHIT!" _

"_Huh? What is it?"_

"_Y-you better take a look at this, sir..."_

"_Urk! Why are they all floating in the water? Could they all have..."_

"_Better call Magnolia coastguard. Something horrible has happened here..."_

"_My God...And they're all so young as well...What kind of evil is responsible for this?"_

…

**Chapter 1: Path to Nirvana**

ONE WEEK EARLIER...

"WAHOO! LET'S PARTY!" The wild and energetic Lucy danced onto the deck of the luxury yacht, clad in her green swimsuit with a floral cloth around the waist. She could party all she wanted now – after all, this cruise holiday was her idea. The Fairy Tail Academy's class of X784 had finally graduated, so Lucy, (who saw it upon herself not _just_ as the class president but as the richest and most popular girl in school as well), to host the post-grad celebratory holiday cruise.

"Yeah go Lucy!" Natsu raised a glass for his best friend. He was just one of the other thirty-three party goers on the boat.

"Hey this ship was a great steal! Well done Lucy." Gray, another of Lucy's classmates, walked over and gave the blonde a friendly pat on the back.

"Thanks; Daddy said I could use his boat for the whole week."

"_Gray-sama~!_ Could you help me fix up the shrimp for everyone?" Juvia slowly walked over and hugged her boyfriend's shirtless body, dragging him away.

"Gray's such a lucky bastard!" Natsu lay back on a deck chair as he tried absorbing as many UV rays as he could on this week long holiday cruise. "What do you say Lucy? Can we make this be our make-up cruise?"

Lucy blushed as she held away her gaze nervously, brushing a stray hair behind her ear, "Natsu...You know I'm with Loki now."

Natsu jumped off his chair as he walked over and wrapped an arm over Lucy's shoulder. "Aww, come on...Can't we go back to the good old days? Remember when we were the 'Hottest Couple in Fairy Tail'? Those were great times... Ooh, remember when we played hooky from Happy-sensei's Third Period 'Fishenomics' class with Erza and Grey and-"

"Please just drop it already Natsu." Lucy sighed, pushing her ex away as she went back inside. "Let's just try and forget about school and have some fun, OK?" she said more seriously whilst she departed, leaving Natsu to gaze at her ten-out-of-ten figure.

_Now it was Natsu's turn to sigh, watching forlornly as Lucy sauntered off _

_"Damn...Loki's a lucky bastard too!"_

…

Lucy entertained more of her friends who were in the bar inside. "Hope you guys are having a blast!" She spun on her heels as she greeted Alzack, Bisca, Droy, Jet and Levy who were all chilling out by the lounge. "I'm glad you all came on my holiday cruise."

"Thanks Lucy!" Levy gave her friend a huge hug. "After we get back we're gonna have to spoil you rotten."

"Yeah, I must say you did well putting all this together by yourself." Three striking young men in dapper suits stood behind Lucy.

"Eve, Hibiki, Ren." Lucy called out their names in greeting. "Well I can't take all the credit; Daddy did have some of the servants help before we left," Lucy scratched her head showing off her humility. "Plus we have

Aquarius-san driving the ship at the moment, so I'm really just here as a happy face.

Hibiki took Lucy's hand as he tried speaking in an elegant voice. _"~You are not just a happy face, my dear; you're the very heart and soul of this ship.~"_

Lucy blushed as she shied away from the three charmers. "Hehe...Well I better go and say hello to Erza now."

The bar-room was serving as the main entertainment room for the event, so most of the guests were packed inside. She squeezed past Shou and Millianna, as well as the very loud (in voice, personality and clothing) Jason who still seemed to be trying to pick up any free chick on board: the nervous girl Aries was currently experiencing the Jason treatment. ("So you also have an Aries star-sign? KEWL KEWL _KEEWWL!_") Lucy silently wished him good luck in his pick-up endeavors as she finally found Erza by the bar.

She waltzed over and caught up with the fiery redhead, who was sharing a drink with Cana and Elfman. "Hey Erza! Have you had the chance to see everyone I brought along on the cruise?"

Erza smiled underneath her otherwise stoic demeanor, "Sorry, but when I've finished this drink I will." She spun around on the bar stool so she could see the others in the room. "I see you've managed to bring just about the entire class along."

"Yeah, well, I didn't want to leave anyone out. You're all my friends so I thought I'd bring as many as this cruise can hold." She smiled as she held her hands behind her back like the innocent young girl she portrayed herself as.

"~Aww, you should have another drink, eh Erza?" Cana bellowed as she slapped her tiny 'keg'. Cana was the heaviest drinker in Lucy's class and could even drink the hardiest men under the table. "You can never have too much _booze_, am I right? *hic!*"

Elfman held out his empty glass to his younger sister Mirajane, who was playing barmaid for Lucy's classmates.

"This was a great idea Lucy," Mirajane complimented her further as she filled up her brother's glass with a fresh drink, "And I don't mean to complain, but did you really have to invite Laxus's gang as well?" She gestured to a group of five who everyone seemed to be trying to avoid.

"Speak of the devil..." Erza slyly murmured as a group of sweaty jocks made their way towards the bar.

"Yo Erza! Still wanna try kicking my ass again sometime...HAHAH!" The spiky blonde ringleader took a seat next to the redhead as several of his cronies hovered by. "Seriously, that was one fucking epic night! So are ya still gonna hold out on your old bud Lucky Lackey?"

Erza gripped her glass until it nearly broke. "I swear I just wish someone would rip out your tongue one day you jerk."

"See what I mean my boys? She's the feisty one alright, layin' with her is like laying with a bunch of swords." Laxus slammed the bench as he guffawed at his own pathetic jokes, his gaudy headphones clacking against the Phat Chainz he wore that night.

"Please Laxus, that's enough; just leave her alone," Lucy pleaded, trying acting as the peacekeeper.

"Ohh, and it's Lucky Lucy! Come over here babe." The creepy jock pulled Lucy across Erza's lap with one arm. "I still have to thank ya for invitin' me and my buds on your Barbie cruise."

"Laxus please let me go!" Lucy pleaded with the larger man.

"Oi that's enough Laxus! Don't make me have to do this." Elfman rose from his stool, the giant man bunching his fists.

"Ooh! The Elfmeister! Still trying to play the nice guy after all these years? Hey boys?" Laxus craned his head around to get some more support from his sniggering subordinates.

"I was going to put aside our differences for this cruise, but if you're gonna stir shit up here then I'll have to send you 30,000 leagues under the sea," the burly warrior declared.

Laxus continued sniggering as his followers circled around the big guy. "You sure you wanna try that again after the last time?" Elfman's hand reflexively moved to the scar on his face. "Besides, me and the boys are just havin' some fun. Now Lucy, I gotta give you my thanks." Laxus raised on hand onto the air as Lucy remained face down across his lap, he then started curling each of his fingers until his index and middle finger were left out. "Now-"

But before he could give Lucy his thanks another person had reached over and grabbed the blonde man's wrist. "Touch her and you're fucking dead."

"Loki stay out of this," Lucy tried calming her savior boyfriend.

"Yeah Laxus," Natsu came back inside with Gray and a more of the male students by his side, "you and your little buddies better back away before this holiday turns ugly."

Conceding defeat, Laxus chuckled as he shook Lucy off his lap and got to his feet. "What an interesting party we've got goin' here. Well thanks anyway Lucy." Laxus jerked his ridge-featured head, signaling for his small forces to make a retreat.

As they made their way from the bar Laxus came across another old foe from the Academy. He eyed down the blue haired man as he stood before the jock. "Too late to play hero now, isn't it? Or would you have gotten a hard if I'd done something to Erza instead?" Laxus smirked with undeserved confidence as he walked around the new person.

"Jellal?" Erza gasped; she didn't seem pleased with this particular guest's arrival, "What are you doing here?"

"Long time no see Erza," Jellal said with hardly any affection in his voice. "Having fun?"

Erza gave Lucy daggers in her gaze as she walked off towards the bedrooms. Lucy and the others looked at each other equally confused as to Erza's sudden reaction.

"I should go and speak to Erza." Gray tried to follow the distraught woman, but a clingy Juvia prevented him from getting very far.

Lucy stepped forward. "No, I'm her oldest friend so I'll talk to her."

…

"Erza," Lucy called as she knocked on the door of her friend's cabin, "you OK?" She pressed her ear to the door and heard Erza muttering some less than nice things about what had happened before. She cracked the door open, "Can I come in?"

"Lucy," Erza let out a small gasp, startled out of her dark musings. She nodded, bidding the blond to enter.

Lucy walked into Erza's room as she sat by her bed. "Sorry about that jerk Laxus, I wouldn't have invited him if I knew he'd act like that."

"I appreciate that," Erza said, "But I'm more upset about Jellal being here. I can't be around that man, not after what he did..." Erza pressed her face into her pillow as she lay face down on her bed. "Lucy, I understand your generous personality, but you really should have given some more thought into who you were actually inviting on this cruise."

Lucy rubbed her friend's back as she sobbed silently against the pillow. "Don't worry Erza, whatever happened in the past is history now. Come on, we're all supposed to be grown ups now; school's over and we have college and the rest of our lives to look forward to," Lucy explained as she continued upholding her ideal view of the world.

"But you don't understand what Jellal-"

"Please Erza? I don't want to see you sad of all my friends. I promise I'll make this the best week of our lives."

Erza couldn't refuse against Lucy's cheerful smile. Though she envied Lucy's great fortune and ability to see happiness in every corner, she also adored her oldest friend. She sat up and gave the blonde a warm hug. "Okay Lucy, I'll be happy for you."

…

LATER THAT EVENING:

"AHOO-HOO! Hey, what animal am I now?" Natsu was jumping up and down on a small table, swaying his arms and pretending to peel bananas as everyone gathered in the main room.

"A Natsu!" Gray shouted out as he threw more peanuts at the pink-haired man.

"Good one bro!" Lyon acknowledged his twin brother's remark.

"Oh Lyon, I much prefer your witty jokes.~" Sherry leaned over her boyfriend's shoulder, brushing her pink pigtails against his snow white hair.

"Gray-sama's jokes are much better than Lyon's!" Juvia leaned over Gray and stared down her rival.

"Humph. Gray must be tired of having you on his shoulder all the time," Sherry snickered cheekily. "And what's with you calling him 'Gray-sama'? Are you still getting romance advice from those crappy Shojo manga you read?"

"How dare you!" Juvia lunged at Sherry's face as she jumped over Gray's body. The two girls started wrestling each other to the ground as a fight ensued.

"CAT FIGHT! HELL YEAH!" The sight of two females scratching and pulling each others hair was enough to start up Laxus and his testosterone fueled lads.

Thankfully most of the other guys knew better and quickly intervened. "Hey you two cut it out!" The combatants respective boyfriends rushed over and pried the two girls apart.

"I'm sorry Gray-sama! Juvia was only trying to defend your honor," Juvia excused herself with watery eyes.

"I was only fighting in the name of love!" Sherry tried excusing herself too.

"Hey what got a hold of you two?" Natsu came over to see the two girls after they had been broken up.

"OI! What'd you fags break up a chick fight for?" Laxus rolled over with an empty glass from the bar. His cronies formed a guard of honor behind him as usual.

"Who the hell invited you anyway Laxus?" Natsu stepped forward with flames burning in his eyes. "Go back to drinking in those sleazy bars you like so much."

"I should wipe the floor with the lot of you geeks for spoiling our night's entertainment." Laxus started cracking his fists as he walked over to Natsu.

Gray and Lyon blocked off Laxus. "You just don't know how to keep that mouth of yours shut."

"Hey if yer pickin a fight with Lackey, yer pickin' a fight with the Thunder Boyz!" Erigor puffed out his chest like a Vulcan monkey as he shoved Gray back into Natsu.

"Hey you better watch it yourself." Lyon grabbed the other white haired man by the collar as he threw him back into the rest of Laxus pseudo mob.

"We'll kick your asses just like we did back when you guys had that wimpy gang." Azuma, a large black-skinned member of Laxus Thunder Boyz crossed his arms. "'Dragonslayers' was it called? Pah!"

Suddenly Azuma's remark spurred on someone who was mingling in with the rest of the crowd. The person wore long black boots and had long, wild black hair with studs running vertically down his large nose. "I'm not gonna sit here whilst these fuckwits say shit about my old gang!"

"Gajeel, get a grip, we're not in a gang anymore," Natsu tried to calm down the steel golem.

The final two members of Laxus faction, came into view, one appeared slightly more reserved than the others with lighter features and long green hair, while the other was much wilder with corpse paint across his body, long black hair that went straight down to his ankles, and wearing black clothes and spikes on his wrists and shoulders.

"Boss, let's have our final showdown with the old Dragonslayers."

"Yeehaw, Let's shred 'em to little pieces and hang their intestines on the railing – Heavy Fucking Metal baby!"

"Fried! Vidaldus! You still wish to lick the boots of that man?" Lyon shook his head.

"Let's fuck 'em up, Laxus!" Erigor consulted with his boss. "There's five of us Thunder Boyz, they've only got four, we'll send them overboard eh?"

Laxus chuckled as he threw one sleeve of his fur jacket over his neck as if it were a prized scarf. "Cheh, _nah_! Lucky Lucy was nice enough to invite us here, we shouldn't give her a hard time. ...Well, at least not until later tonight! BAHAHAHA!"

SLAM. Loki jumped over and lifted Laxus by the scruff of his neck, pinning him against one of the pillars in the middle of the room. "Say one more perverted thing about Lucy and I will make you piss blood for the rest of this cruise!"

"Loki look out!" Laxus took quick care of Loki by kneeing the smaller framed teenager in the gut.

"Hah! How could you put up any fight for that girl? I'll take good care of that one." Laxus was about to walk away when two other girls clung to his arm

"Don't forget about me Lucky Lackey, I'll take good care of you...~" one of the girls stroked Laxus's chest.

"Yeah I know Angel, but I have other urges too, ya know?" The creepy gang leader tried excusing his polygamous thoughts.

"Yeah, you don't need that stupid Barbie slut," Karen, the other girl, advised to her hunk. She looked down at the injured Loki, "What a loser. How did I ever end up going out with _you_?"

Natsu and the other Dragonslayers helped Loki back to his feet as the Thunder Boyz and Girls departed the main room. "They're gonna make this cruise a week of hell..."

…

Whilst everyone was partying inside, or recovering from body shots and alcohol poisoning, one lone person could be seen leaning against the railing of the boat. He had a gym bag lying next to him as he gazed over the murky depths.

_Nothing will ever be found in these waters...This will be my only chance._

"I see you brought 'her' along our cruise." A shadowy presence came into view of Jellal. The black-haired Gothic woman spoke with a sense of allusiveness. "Did you think you could wipe away your sins by taking another life?"

Jellal grit his teeth as he met the voice. "Ultear..." His current significant other.

Ultear took a few paces until she was next to the bag. She leaned her back against the railing and sighed with strange pleasure. "What do you think Erza would say if she knew of this?"

Jellal kept his gaze locked onto the infinite blue space as he searched for repentance. "I have no other choice, I can't let her know the truth." And with those words Jellal dumped the bag into the water, sinking away a dark and possibly fatal secret.

Hiding behind a nearby wall, Lucy had witnessed the whole conversation take place.

_What on earth did he just throw into the water? And what could he possibly be hiding from Erza?_

…

LATER THAT NIGHT:

"Ohh! Ohh! ~Ooooooh!"

"OH YEAH BABY DON'T GO WET ON ME NOW!" Laxus was still up pounding his two broads. Whilst he played with Angel, he let Azuma have a turn on Karen.

"Shit man! This bitch is as loose as my Gran's slipper."

"Fuck you! Those four abortions didn't help." Karen explained between weak moans.

"Man I'm lovin' the fact that school's over," Laxus regarded as he reached for a nearby joint. "Those Dragonslayer posers are done for though."

Azuma rocked his head casually as Karen did all the work on his naked body. "I get what you're sayin' boss, but now that we've graduated, do we really have a reason to bury them lot?"

Angel reached over and held Laxus's joint in front of his mouth so he could have a puff of the Magic Dragon. "I wasn'tgoing to until Gajeel had to make a scene for himself."

"Yeah you still wanna get back at him for ditchin' our gang, right?" Azuma quizzed his leader.

"Ooh Laxus more please..." Angel crawled over the bed until her rear end was facing Laxus. Laxus used his Lightning Rod on the fair-haired angel.

"I never liked that damn Natsu either, he thinks he's such a fucking hero all the time." The sparks were going off in Laxus' eyes, and it wasn't from the sexual excitement. "Hehe...We're definitely gonna make this a cruise they'll never forget!"

…

Natsu was on his way to his sleeping quarters when he noticed Alkzak, Droy and Jet leaning outside their room. "Huh? What are you three planning?"

"The three of us are fed up with Laxus's little gang war. We might not be tough but we were hoping that man could suffer a little 'accident'," Jet explained, pulling Natsu into their huddle.

"Ssshh...Nobody else has to know about it." Droy whispered in Natsu's ear. "We were just saying it'd be nice if that man suffered a little 'accident', _nothing more..._ Get it?"

The naïve Natsu was still none the wiser to the trio's scheme. "You want him to have an accident?"

"Were out in the middle of a huge ocean on a Yacht. Anything could go wrong you know." Alkzack pulled out what looked like a small gun from his pocket.

"The hell guys!" Natsu yelled through whispers. "I know Laxus is a complete asswipe and I wouldn't even piss on him if he was on fire, but you can't just kill people!"

"Why not?" Jet mentioned with a devious grin. "That bastard put us through misery for all those years at the Academy. Everyone except those ratbags in his gang despise him, so why the hell can't we have some payback?"

Natsu pushed the man into the wall, making his joker hat fall off his head. "You guys are no better than him if you're considering killing someone. That's not funny man! You three better just get some sleep and forget about this stupid game of yours, 'kay?"

Judging from the fire in his eyes, Jet and the other knew that Natsu was truly enraged at that point. They could no longer stand the heat and conceded to the former Dragonslayer. "We got it Natsu, we were only messing around." Jet lifted his hands in surrender as Natsu finally let go.

"This isn't even a real gun anyways," Alzack explained, squirting some water into his palm for emphasis.

"Well I hope it was only the alcohol which made you come up with that." Natsu conveyed as he continued towards his room. "See you fellas in the morning."

As Natsu left the three scrawny plotters cursed. _Thunder Boyz or Dragonslayer...They all deserve to disappear._

…

As the night dragged on, a storm had cast over the solitary Yacht. Lashings of bright light flashed fury along the otherwise pitch black horizon. Thor's Hammer slammed against the water like a child playing in a bathtub as the waves began stirring.

Everyone seemed to be able to sleep through the raging storm. Their first day of drinking and mayhem had tired the young souls, but one person was still roaming around the Cruiser. The spikes in his hair may have been attracted to the lightning like tiny antennae, or perhaps he was just waddling about in a drug-induced stroll.

_The fuck was in that hash? That was no ordinary weed, but why is it only doing this to me? I swear Azuma had some too..._

The Thunder Boy pinched his forehead as he felt stabbing aches in his head. He staggered against a wall as the ship kept rocking in the rough seas. As the ship swayed across another huge swell he ran over to the other side and braced against another wall. He held a hand to his mouth in case he was about to throw up.

At this point he was wondering why the hell he was even roaming around the cruiser yacht at this time of night. But it felt like something (or maybe even someone) was influencing his behavior. Could it have been more than the drugs that were fueling his intoxicated walk? He kept pondering a thousand more mini thoughts like a supercomputer as he reached the bow of the ship.

Another wave bumped Laxus forward, making him stumble towards the railing. He caught himself before he could fall overboard. Gazing into the churning blue soup made Laxus even more nauseous as he heaved his stomach contents.

Laxus could hear footsteps coming towards him. As the waves sprayed water across the deck Laxus turned so he could face the pair of feet following him.

Maybe it was the drugs, or maybe it was the loads of alcohol, or maybe it was the side-effect of a night of hard sex. Perhaps it was a combination of all three. But something about this person made Laxus laugh.

"So...it was you eh?"

That night, Laxus would disappear.

That night, a killer would be born from the storm.

That night was the night when thirty-five would become thirty-three.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

_Spooky, huh? Hope you enjoyed that, cause there's more to come once October rolls around._


	2. Nirvana Island

_OK y'all, here's the next chapter I promised you last month! _

_So what say we get right into it? (Stay tuned at the end for some other Horror suggestions to appease your appatites for the month.)_

**Chapter 2: Nirvana Island**

EARLY DAWN:

_CRRNK!_

The ear-shattering sound of slicing metal had awoken the teenagers on board early that morning. Lucy was still in her 'pajamas' (which were pretty much lingerie) when she burst out of her room and realized their dire predicament. "WE'VE HIT A GIANT ROCK!"

"CHRIST! What the fuck has happened here?" Gray and the others started rousing from their sleep. Gray reeled when he noticed the damage the front of the boat had taken. "Holy fuck! We've crashed into something!"

"Wasn't Aquarius supposed to be steering the ship?" Natsu came out with his rage.

"That jerk Laxus was supposed to be covering the night shift for that ruckus he caused earlier," the crusty-eyed Aquarius yawned as she came onto the front deck. "I'm too tired for this crap..."

"Too tired, huh?" one of the feral girls of the Thunder Boyz shouted. "Well then wake the fuck up; we're stuck on the middle of the fucking ocean with no way back thanks to you being too tired!"

"Hey everyone please calm down," Hibiki darted over so he could address the crowd, getting in between the two women before fists started flying, "as long as the hull isn't damaged we should be able to patch it up and return home. If not then we can always radio for help."

Milliana and Aries were already fearing the worst as they held each other, sobbing and quivering their lips. "We're not gonna make it back now! We're all gonna die! We're gonna-"

"JUST CALM THE FUCK DOWN!" Azuma roared over the restless girls sobs, scaring them silent. "Now," he turned to the group at large, "has anyone seen Laxus?"

Angel walked over to the black giant. "Well we were sleeping together but I ran out so fast I didn't check if he was still in bed."

"Then wouldn't he be here already if that were the case?" Erigor asked, starting to get agitated. Freed and Vidaldus were also losing their cool as they started eying the crowd of nervous teens.

"OH MY GOD!" One of Laxus female trophies collapsed into her knees in front of the ship.

"What's the-" Natsu went past the others and paused behind Karen when he discovered the numerous puddles of a certain crimson **fluid**lying at her feet. "Blood?"

"Something's happened to Laxus..." Karen's tears poured onto her clenched fists as she grit her teeth into a vengeful scorn. She turned to Natsu, "What have you people done to him?"

Natsu took a step back from Karen. "Huh? We're just as confused as you are. Besides, how do we even know if that's his blood?"

Angel rushed back to the deck panting heavily. "I've just checked the entire ship, there's no sign of him anywhere..."

"Lackey's missing?" Erigor's jaw dropped as the crony started shedding some actual emotion for another human. He started turning against the crowd, "You fucking scum must've thrown him overboard!"

Gray stepped between Erigor with Lyon backing him up. "Oi! Back off for a second and get a grip on the shit-storm we're already in!"

"NO! I'll fuckin' kill the lot o' ya's if someone doesn't fess up!" Erigor was restrained by none other than his bulkier comrade Azuma.

"Just chill bro...Lackey may still be alive somewhere."

"But you can see the pool of blood right there Azzy!" Erigor pointed over to the crime scene, "With that storm and so much blood loss how the fuck could any cunt survive out there?"

"Tch. Well, I guess accidents do happen..." A casually made comment was made by someone in the midst of the crowd. But Karen and Erigor were clearly not seeing the humorous side of that remark.

"Who was that?" Karen scanned the crowd speaking in a soft but deep and hateful voice.

"Oh I apologize," Alzack pulled his arms of out his brown poncho and shrugged his shoulders. "I mean, of course we must all be feeling _terrible _for that prick's loss-"

"YOU BASTARD!" Erigor escaped Azuma's grip as he laid his fist against Alzack's cheek, bursting his lips and his confidence in the process.

"Zack!" Bisca rushed over and shielded her beloveds body from Erigor's assault.

"MOVE BITCH, OR I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU TOO!" Erigor shouted in a berserk outburst. Much of the young crowd were too frightened to confront or stop Erigor but there was still a number of Dragonslayers who were ready to tackle the situation.

Gray, Natsu, Lyon, Gajeel and Elfman all rushed the silver haired fox but only Gray and Lyon were required to keep the lanky man on the ground. "You still don't get it you crazy son-of-a-bitch!" Gray attempted to break the maniac's eardrum as he shouted into his ears. "We're fucked enough without pointing fingers at each other!"

"Hey get off him!" Azuma now returned to his usual gangster ways as he went to help his buddy out.

Vidaldus also advanced "Yeah we'll shred you like my guitar – BRUTAL!"

"We can keep you three down as well if you want!" Gajeel and Natsu flexed their muscle with their sleeveless shirts.

As the tension rose and taunts continued one woman decided the bickering had gone on long enough and made her voice heard above the rival thugs.

"**WOULD YOU ALL JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! HOW OLD DO YOU THINK YOU ARE ANYWAY?**"

Even the iron man Gajeel and the dark giant Azuma were silenced by those words. "E-Erza..."

Erza held her hands straight by her side as she went into the mini war zone. "This was supposed to be a post-grad vacation and you lot have been acting out your little gang wars from school the whole time!" Erza kept her composure even as the tears were urging themselves to flow. "We're in serious trouble and all you wanna do is make things worse for everyone." She continued to narrow her eyes while staring at the ground, preferring not to see their decrepit faces. "You thuggish brutes never thought of anything but yourselves back at the Academy, and even now...But have one of you Neanderthals even thought about Lucy? She's the kind spirit who tried to see past our conflicts by inviting you on her cruise." Erza opened and clenched her fist as if unlocking more of her frustration. "I could hate all of you right now...But if it wasn't for Lucy I'd...I'd..."

A hand was placed on Erza's shoulder, pulling her away from some of her angst. "Sorry Erza..." Natsu gave his large friendly smile. "I was being a bit of a monkey myself, so thanks for giving us some sense."

"More like an ass," Erza mumbled, forcing a weak smile. She had known Natsu from when Lucy used to go out with the fiery haired man. Even the hardy redhead couldn't hold a grudge against him. "Yeah," she spoke softly, "no problem..."

"Hey guys..." Hibiki called over from the edge of the ship. "There's something out in the fog."

They all walked over and held a hand by their forehead as they observed the gray horizon. The foggy curtain unfolded revealing a large island.

Natsu cheered as he saw the lush green forests come into view. "YES! There might be others who can help us there."

_I wouldn't be so sure,_ a skeptical thought arrived from the back of the crowd, _Not this island._ Jellal retreated from the others as he looked over the side of the ship. The quiet man suddenly gasped as he noticed something floating between the rock and the side of the boat.

_No..._

"Hey Jellal, have you found something?" Natsu noticed Jellal by the side and the others followed.

"Wait a mi-" Jellal's voiced was drowned by the sea of teenagers as they made their way over to the side.

"Go on Natsu grab it out!" Gray pushed his mate overboard as Natsu could be heard spitting out water and cursing.

"What is it Natsu?" Lucy asked with a great sense of concern that it might have been Laxus – or at least a part of him.

Natsu threw the object in the air and the crowd parted as it landed on the deck. A sigh of relief hit the crowd as they realized what it was.

"Just a gym bag..." Elfman patted his gut, the gentle giant even saving himself from freaking out.

_No... _Jellal fretted slightly as Natsu climbed back onboard.

"It looks like something shredded it to kingdom come," Droy said as he and Jet went over in their curiosity and searched inside the bag's remains.

"That's weird though," Jet observed, "The zipper hasn't opened."

"What on earth could do that?" Erza and some of the others started asking more questions about the not so insignificant bag.

"Oh and look at that." Jet scanned the shredded bag with an even more in depth analysis, "There are scratch marks inside the bag, it's like someone has been put in the bag and tried to get out."

_No, I didn't think the legends were actually true. ...Why didn't I take that more into consideration?_

"Can I please take look?" the inquisitive Lucy hopped over and studied the bag. Even shredded as it was the cheery blonde haired chick could recognize the bag, "That's funny, I saw Jellal throw this bag into the ocean last night."

A number of the jock boys twisted their glares towards the blue-haired man. "So I wonder what you could possibly be dumping in the ocean?" Natsu quizzed him with his veins throbbing an anger.

"Yeah! And another thing, you were speaking about something with Ultear," Lucy brought a finger to her chin as if she were a detective unpicking a mystery crime. "She mentioned something about bringing 'her' along."

Loki came over to ask Lucy something. "Hey Lucy, didn't our register for the cruise have thirty-five guests on it? Minus Laxus, how many of us are still here?"

Jellal grit his teeth as he noticed a smirk crawling up Ultear's face.

_Ultear, you actually put her name on the register?_

Eve could be seen doing a quick headcount as the others started musing the possibilities of what may have been in the bag. "There's thirty-three of us on the ship at this moment."

"And with Laxus missing there's still one more unaccounted for," Natsu quickly confirmed what many had already concluded for themselves. "Jellal...You tried drowning someone in this bag didn't you?"

"Don't be ridiculous..." Jellal kept his neutral expression even as he knew his scheme had been uncovered.

"How could you do that to somebody?" Lucy cried as she realized her horrible suspicions were true.

Jellal tried defending himself against the thirty plus jury. "You have no proof of what may have been in that bag. For all you know it could have been a cat or some other animal."

"That's still pretty messed up," Lucy pointed out.

"Of all my classmates I was always thought you were the most suspicious, Jellal." Natsu was about to walk over and rough up Jellal when the fiery redhead stormed past him.

SLAP. Erza's hand felt like a hot brand striking Jellal's cheek. "Jel...lal! You just have to keep killing, don't you?" Erza's shoulders were heaving as her bright yellow shirt was being stained with tears of darkness.

"Erza...You're wrong-" Jellal tried to explain his innocence but it seemed everyone else had already decided the verdict.

"**Get the fuck of this ship you murderer!**" Natsu charged over like a rhinoceros when somebody else entered the fray.

Natsu pulled back his fist before it could connect with Mirajane. "Please everyone stop fighting!"

"Mirajane?" Natsu was surprised that the former model would try and protect a suspected killer.

"Sis' step away from that man. He's probably killed Laxus too." Elfman was about to grab her sister when she spread her arms out in defiance.

"I just want everyone to stop fighting...I can't stand seeing anymore people die needlessly." She sobbed heavily, remembering her younger sister Lisanna who had died in a horrible accident last year. The pain of seeing a loved one lost had made Mirajane determined to no longer see anyone else close to her die. "If we are to survive, we need to work together. So please..." Mirajane began feeling weak on her feet and started swaying from all the emotion she had expelled at that moment. Her older brother had to catch her before she fainted.

"Sis..." Now the Elfman's tears were flowing in their torrents. "Please don't push yourself like this."

Erza also stood by the white haired young woman, offering her silent agreement with the sentiment.

Jellal and the others remained in silent deadlock for a minute before the expressionless man spoke out. "She's right you know; we need to stick together and find a way to get back home."

"The water isn't too deep this close to the island," Ren noticed as he calculated the distance to the island, "We should take as many provisions from this ship before we head off."

The sun started shining across the boat and casting over the island as the other weary teens had decided there had been enough tension raised at that point and went off to grab their supplies.

As they all made their way back inside Lucy took Erza with her as the girl kept her gaze on the man she detested the most.

Natsu was left with the stoic figure on the deck as the others went inside. His eyes were thinly open, his face showing a grave frown of hatred. "I'll be keeping my eyes on you from now on..."

…

The thirty-two poor souls had gathered their clothes, food, water and other supplies as they waded through the shallow waters. (Aquarius had stayed to properly assess the damage to the boat.) The Island was less than 500 meters from where the boat had landed so when the first few struck the beach they felt like they had found grains of a gold pile.

"Whew! We've made it!" Gray and Lyon threw down their bags and spread their arms out, making sand angels.

"This isn't our ideal holiday location," Cana tried putting the two icy boys back into the real world. "In case you don't remember, we're stuck out here with no way off this island.

"Cool your jet Cana," Gray said as the others reached land. "We may have ourselves caught in a pile of shit, but we may as well try and make the most of this island while we're here."

"It looks pretty abandoned to me." Natsu observed the rows of trees and bushes that lined the forest. "Hey what's with that gap in the trees over there?" Natsu's observation proved his oblique intellect.

"It looks like a trail." Lucy started walking towards the clearing. "C'mon we might find a good spot to set up camp!"

…

The Fairy Hills class had begun a hike up a rather steep incline as the hill gradually reached a crest. "Phew...I think this hill should end soon." Lucy sighed.

"Let's just hope there's not another hill to go afterwards, eh?" Natsu tried lightning the mood up for his ex, making an exaggerated show of trudging up the path.

"Hehe...Natsu..." Lucy started laughing at the monkey boy.

"Hey what's so funny?" Natsu started poking her belly.

"Why'd you put that scarf around your head? It looks really silly." Lucy's broad smile and cheerful laughter meant that she still believed they could enjoy happiness together, even in these adverse times.

Natsu rolled his eyes up to his checkered scarf he had tied around his carrot-top head like an improvised headband. "I guess I thought it'd make me look cool."

"You look more like a pineapple head to me," Erza joined in the innocent banter as she tried feeling a bit more cheery as well.

"Ya really think so Erza?" Natsu gave Lucy a cheeky wink as he slowed his pace. Erza walked past the slowing Dragonslayer without suspecting his oncoming prank. Lucy looked back at the boy trying to contain her laughter when he grabbed a pile of sand from his pockets.

Erza noticed Lucy's strange expression. "What is it Luc-" She felt the wet sand creep down her tiny jean-shorts and into the crack of her but. "EEEEEEE! **Natsu, you asshole!**"

"HAHAHA!" Natsu fell over laughing at his childish joke. Erza blushed as the tough girl hid behind some bushes and lowered the back of her shorts enough so she could pour the sand out. "I can't believe you fell for that!"

"Natsu you're still a legend!" Gray came over and slapped the class clown on the shoulder.

Although Erza didn't really appreciate the grainy feeling of sand in her but, she smiled when she noticed Lucy was enjoying Natsu's antics as well.

_I'm glad she can still smile for everyone's sake._

"UUWWOAAH!" Levy, Juvia and Sherry had gone ahead of the jokers and reached the crest first. Juvia began hoping in place and waving emphatically, "Gray-sama! Gray-sama look at this!"

Gray sprinted up the hill to reach Juvia as he noticed the sight over the hill. "Wow! Well aren't we lucky!"

"What is it already?' Natsu, Erza and Lucy caught up as well and were amazed to discover the area above the hill

A large clearing appeared before their eyes. In the middle of the clearing, with an arch of bushes and a number of different trails leading off from it, was a modestly sized campsite. There were a number of cabins and all the external structures were wooden as well as weatherboard walls and glass windows.

"_This_ was on the island!?" Natsu rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't dreaming. "Look it's even got a barbecue area!"

"WHOOHOO! We've reached paradise!" Gray ran over towards the campsite.

"Wait for me Gray-sama!" Juvia tried following her lover in her white summer dress.

"Looks like they've found something up there." Ren and Eve, two of the three boys from the former Bachelor club noticed the commotion above the hill. Hibiki was following behind towards the tail end of the group.

"Looks like you got away with that situation earlier," Ultear consulted with Jellal towards the very rear of the group.

"Please don't speak to me again." Jellal didn't even look towards the Gothic classmate as they followed the rest of the group from the back.

Hibiki noticed the number of tiny animal trails which lined across the main trail. _We should be able to hunt some small animals around here as well._

As he cast his gaze along another tiny trail he noticed something moving in the forests. When he noticed the bright colored clothing and long hair, he knew it definitely wasn't just an animal. Curiosity drove him into the small trail following the visual scent amongst the green depths.

Jellal noticed the blonde bachelor was heading into the forests but didn't want to call out his name and gather any unwarranted attention. Ultear watched over in silent amusement as Jellal scoured through the forest in pursuit of the wayward teen.

Eve and Ren had reached the top with nearly everyone else by now. "A campsite? Well this turned out great didn't it Eve...What's up Eve?" The darker skinned bachelor turned back to his blue-eyed counterpart who was looking down the hill.

"It's Hibiki; wasn't he behind us before?"

…

Hibiki ran through the thick bushes which tore at his light clothing. He could now hear the soft cries of a child – the sound carrying through the forest as if the very atmosphere was sobbing. "Hey, is someone there?" He continued advancing towards the voice.

He continued deep into the forest until the crying sounded very close. He thought that someone may have also struck this island and may be lost or alone. "Hey you out there, can you hear me? I've come to help you!"

He walked slowly past a few more shrubs until he reached a small clearing. He sighed with relief when he discovered a small girl, crouching by a small group of flowers. She was still sobbing when Hibiki called out to her.

"Hey, little girl, are you lost?" Hibiki reached over with a hand towards the girl. He admired her sweet appearance; long dark-blue hair, pale skin and her blue and yellow striped dress including the strange white accessories attached to her arms and legs like miniature wings.

She wiped away the tears from her eyes when she turned towards the man. She kept gulping as she held back her sobs.

"What's your name little girl? I'm Hibiki."

She kept swallowing back more tears as she whimpered her name. "W-W-Wen-dy"

"Wendy, that's a cute- WATCH OUT!" Hibiki noticed a large shadow appearing in the green veil behind her.

"AGH!" Wendy jumped on her feet as she went towards Hibiki. But as the girl tried to reach her savior, a dark shape suddenly sprung from behind the young girl and tackled Hibiki in the gut.

"Ugh!" Hibiki was thrown back by the mysterious entity as he stumbled backwards towards a large tree. "URK!" Hibiki impacted the tree with his body, but in the process he had impaled the back of his throat on a broken branch which jutted out like a tiny spear. Wendy was terrified when she discovered the man was bleeding profusely out of his neck. Hibiki tried calling out something but with his trachea punctured he could only spew blood and thick flesh down his mouth.

As the thick giblets of flesh and blood slapped onto the poor girl face she gasped in great fear.

And screamed her lungs out.

"KKKYYYYAAAAAHHHH!"

A seemingly freak accident had claimed one more of the Fairy Tail's class of X784.

Though a new member was added to the party, another was taken as payment...

_To be continued..._

__/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_

_So here are those other stories I alluded to at the beginning..._

_Clown - AlexMCM (Formerly Alex McMullen)_

_Deteriorate - The Layman (Shameless plug, what's that!) _

_The Cries of Haruhi Suzumiya - Thnikkafan (There are two stories in this series.)_

_The Library- -Nihilus (Here's an original concept; Lolies going bonkers and killing people...in Lucky Star.)_

_Angel with Demon Wings - AlexMCM (Yup, him again.)_

_Bleached Halloween - Alex MCM (This one's more on the funny side.)_

_Moratorium - PrincessKitty1 (More Shippy than Scary, but still good.)_


	3. Nasty Surprises

"Hey, the inside ain't too bad either!" Natsu cheerfully set down his bags as he went inside one of the cabins. There were beds and a small kitchen area with a food pantry; the floor was made of wooden boards but had a large rug covering most of the interior; numerous old paintings and decorations covered the wall as if some strange hoarder used to live here.

"Oh, now I recognize this place!" Lucy recalled after looking at all the paintings of the countryside, "We're on Nirvana Island, and this is the island lodge retreat Daddy built here."

"Nirvana?" Natsu turned back whilst holding a small statue. "Wait, your dad owns this retreat? How loaded is he?"

"Well, he usually leases this place out for tourists or students on holiday. But I've heard he still comes here now and then to relax."

Natsu seemed impressed at the kind of assets Lucy's father possessed. "That's awesome!" Then a light bulb turned on in his mind. "Wait! If that's the case, then maybe we can get help!" Natsu searched the corners of the cabin in search of something, "Doesn't this place have a phone?"

"I think there's only one main phone on the whole island; Daddy said he wanted it to be isolated from the world, but still have a way to get help if need be. It should be in one of these cabins," Lucy mentioned as she went back outside.

Once Natsu was alone he pulled out his mobile phone, only to reconfirm what he had already suspected.

_No bars... Well, we're pretty much in the middle of nowhere then._

…

**Chapter 3: Nasty Surprises **

Lucy came out and noticed everyone had gathered into several groups. "Hey guys what's goin' on?"

Loki went over and gave Lucy a warm hug, "Sorry all this had to happen to your great cruise."

Lucy smiled and tried to shake her worries off, "Nah, this isn't all that bad. We just have to spend our week on an island instead of a boat that's all."

"Yeah, but..." Loki cast away his gaze from Lucy's for a moment. "I just feel like I haven't done enough to protect you; I couldn't stand up to that brute Laxus so what hope do I-"

Lucy's lips silenced Loki's inner doubts, she wrapped her arms around the back of his neck as the two lovebirds held onto each other for thirty glorious seconds. "We're gonna be fine Loki, trust me; we're gonna make the most of this place while we still can."

"Okay," Loki smiled as he gave Lucy another hug.

"So anyway, what's everyone up to?" Lucy poked her head around so she could see the groups discussing amongst themselves.

"Oh well it seems a few of us are keen to start exploring the island in case there's anyone or anything that might help us get back home," Loki quickly explained to his blonde girlfriend.

"Ooh, that's a great idea~!" Lucy regarded. Then she looked around at the haphazard piles of luggage strewn around the clearing, "But shouldn't we get our things organized first?"

Loki lifted his shades and laughed. "Sure thing, Lucy."

…

Jellal noticed the lifeless body of Hibiki as he remained skewered against the tree branch. His eye's had rolled far back into his head and his tongue hanged out of his mouth; his throat still squirted tiny sprays of blood as Jellal kept observing.

_What a fool...These things are bound to happen when you run blindly into enemy territory..._

With nothing left to do, Jellal retraced his footsteps on the way back to the main camp. "Now, where did she run off to?"

…

"We'll stay in this one Erza!" Lucy announced to her redhead friend as they entered the small cabin. "There are five cabins and six beds in each, so a few of the girls can sleep here with us."

"That's a good idea Lucy," Erza thought as she started changing into some fresher clothes, "I was worried you might mix us up with the boys for a second there."

"Hehehe. Well, there's no rule saying we can't _visit_ other people's cabins at night..." Lucy spoke with a sly tone.

Erza had changed into a light green shirt and cargo shorts. Lucy had also changed into some fresher clothes: an orange singlet and tiny blue shorts and long boots.

"Looks like some of the boys are heading out," Erza noticed as she looked outside.

…

"_Gray-sama_, let Juvia come with you!" The watery-eyed girl kept strangling Gray's arm.

"It's alright Juvia, we won't be gone for long," Gray assured his very attached girlfriend.

"And will you promise to come back quickly as well Lyon?" Sherry pleaded, pulling the same maneuver.

"Yeah, you girls rest up in your cabins for a while 'til we get back." Lyon gave them a quick wave as he went off with Gray towards one corner of the forest.

"Take care sis," Elfman gave his older sister a quick hug as he left with Natsu and Gajeel towards another path.

The boys began their exploration mission, splitting into four groups. Jet, Droy and Alzack formed another group and went towards the other end of the island, whilst three of the remaining Thunder Boyz searched in a different direction – leaving Freed behind to monitor the main camp

"I hope they'll all be alright..." Mirajane held her hands close to her chest as most of the boys set off for their search. The rest of the boys were left to protect the girls – though the type of boys remaining would ironically appear to be the least reliable for protecting even themselves.

"KEWL; I call the top bunk!" Jason had already ran off into his cabin in a hyper mood as always. Aries smiled at the hyper young man's antics and went to find her luggage.

"You're staying with us Shou?" Erza went over to the tanned blonde teenager.

"Yeah, I can't stand to part from dear Milliana for any more than a few seconds." He quickly nuzzled Milliana's cheek as she purred softly. "And besides, you know I can't let anything happen to her. ...You haven't already forgotten what happened five years ago, have you?"

Erza grit her teeth as she answered, "Of course not, how could I ever forget that?"

"AAAAAAGGGHH" The faint sound of screaming could be heard coming from one of the adjacent paths.

"What could that have been?" Loki reached for Lucy, "It didn't sound like an animal's scream."

Ren and Eve both looked at each other after scanning the clearing, "Hey, has anyone seen Hibiki since we arrived?"

Erza and the others leaned back as they suddenly realized one of the campers was missing. Erza also noticed a lack of blue hair in the group and mentioned "Jellal hasn't shown up either." She fought to keep a smile off her face at the realization of that small comfort.

"And what about that girl he's always hanging around with," Lucy had also been paying attention the whole time, "Those two are made for each other." She quickly digressed, "I bet they're having a good lay in the bushes somewhere..."

"WWWAAAAGGHHH" The screams were getting closer now, heading towards the camp.

"It sounds like a young girl screaming!" Levy spun her head around, worried about her two best mates.

"Someone's coming!" Erza braced herself as she stepped in front of Lucy and the others. With the strongest muscles of the group absent, she would take up the role as the main guardian of everyone else.

Two tiny feet ran out of the shrubs and stopped once they emerged from the forest. The campers were slightly relieved to discover the feet belonged to a tiny girl, maybe only eight or nine years old – maybe younger. She hid her face with scrunched hands, wiping away tears as she continued bawling her eyes out.

"Poor girl...are you all lost out here?" Lucy walked over and offered a hand to the girl. "Come on now, it's alright...My name's Lucy and we're gonna help you."

The young girl sniffed back her heavy sobs as she extended a hand – a hand which had been smeared in human paint.

"Oh my God! What happened?" Lucy shuddered before she leaned down and checked over the girl for any wounds. "This blood..."

Erza walked over whilst the others remained in shock. "I think she may have witnessed something we all fear the most..."

…

Azuma and two other Thunder Boyz were wading through thicker scrub as they descended a steep slope. Azuma turned to his two comrades, "I'm hoping we'll find Lacky somewhere on this Island."

"You serious bro? Those fuckwit Dragon-cunts murdered him; you saw that blood!" Erigor protested.

"Yeah, but there was no body," Azuma responded, "We still can't confirm what happened to him unless we find his body."

"Hey guys, why don't we just carve those fuckers up already and avenge 'im," Vidaldus growled.

"Yeah, Vid's right! We shouldn't let those cocksucking fucknuts get away with killing boss!"

Azuma rubbed his chin and tried to think of his next step. Without Laxus, he seemed to have assumed the new role as Thunder Boyz head honcho. But he didn't share the same aggressive and impulsive strokes as his former boss. But with two angry and highly testosterone saturated (and possibly a whole other bunch of chemicals) lackeys by each of his ears, he wondered if he really had any other choice.

_I suppose we'd better deal with those Dragonslayers..._

…

"C'mon Gray, you're too slow!" Lyon hung his body by a tree trunk as better looked down at his twin brother.

"Dammit, what's the big rush anyway?" Gray clambered up a few moss covered rocks before Lyon helped him to the top with his free arm. "We'll probably be here for the long haul so let's not waste our strength."

Lyon smirked, "So you've already burnt out as soon as we came here?"

"Not on your life!" Gray chased after his taunting brother who resumed the chasing game in the woods.

…

"Whoah! That's a big one!" Natsu cheered as he plucked out another large fish from the water. Gajeel and Elfman sat on the small beach as they observed their friend with the seemingly endless energy.

"This is great, we'll just let him take care of all the food," Gajeel turned to the white haired giant as he reclined back.

"Yeah, Natsu's really somethin' else."

"_HAHAHA! Ow, this one bit me!" _As Natsu continued his improvised fishing a lone shape was observing the small group, though it had drawn the attention of the two on the sand.

"Did ya' hear somethin'?" Gajeel leaned back and corked his upper body so he could see the bushes. He saw some slight movement but there didn't seem to be anyone there.

"Probably just a small animal," Elfman didn't seem as worried.

…

"DAMMIT LYON WAIT UP!" Gray panted as he tried keeping his pace with his fellow blood.

"Just admit it that I'm fitter and stronger than you!" Lyon shouted as he neared the crest of another incline. "My older brother must be nearing his retirement!"

"Why you!" Gray couldn't help but laugh at his younger twin brother's remarks. Lyon still liked to play the rival game even at this age. "Alright I'm gonna make you pay now!" Gray increased his pace as Lyon made his way over the hill.

"Just like you Gray, you never give up a challenge!" Lyon called over as he continued with his head turned towards Gray. "You're just like..."

Lyon's voice seemed to trail off as soon as he went over the crest. Gray paused for a moment and called out to his brother. "Hey Lyon? You okay?" When he heard no response he sprinted towards the peak of the hill. "Hey you, why'd you just-"

Gray's words seemed to escape his throat, just as he looked towards his feet. A small but deep depression occupied the path where Lyon had crossed. Jutting rocks and branches filled the bottom, revealing a nasty fate for anyone unfortunate enough to fall into the pit.

Unfortunately for Lyon...He had stumbled into such a fate. His splattered skull with assorted gray matter sprawling across the rocky surface was a reminder of that.

Gray had lost his twin brother, his twin rival, and his best mate.

"LYOOOOOOON!"

...

"Did you hear that?" Natsu poked his head out of the water "It sounded like Gray."

"He could be in trouble...Let's go." Elfman, Gajeel and Natsu left the shore in pursuit of Gray's voice.

...

"What was that?" Erza and the rest of the group suddenly turned their ears towards the mysterious noise.

"I think one of them might be hurt," Ren thought. "Eve and I will go and check it out."

"Alright..." Erza didn't try and hold the two bachelor club boys back. She knew that they were probably equally concerned for their fellow club member who had still not returned to camp.

She looked down at the young girl who had just stumbled into their camp and held out her hand with a gentle smile, "Why don't we get you something to drink?"

…

Gray stood over the hole which his twin brother had tragically fallen into, his legs wouldn't stop shaking as his body struggled to hold his own weight. "L...Lyon...you..." As he fell to his knees he could hear the panting breaths of several people rushing over.

"Hey Gray, you alright?" Natsu sprinted over to the top of the hill with Gajeel and Elfman following a short distance behind, "We heard you shouting so we wanted to check what was going on." Natsu powered his legs up the hill as he noticed Gray was ignoring him. "Hey where's Ly-"

Natsu's throat was caught in silence as he gazed down at the impaled corpse of Lyon. "Fuck _me_..."

"Lyon..." Gray struggled to say his name as the tears rolled down his body.

"Gray..." Natsu spoke with a softer voice as he faced Gray.

"Hey what's wrong?" Gajeel and Elfman finally came up to see the situation. "What happened to Lyon?"

Natsu closed his eyes and shook his head, signaling the worst had indeed happened. "No... You mean-?"

"Yes," Natsu cut them off with his soft yet horridly serious tone, "Lyon's dead."

…

Eve and Ren continued back on the trail where the whole group had come from, retracing their steps in an effort to find Hibiki. Once the little girl had calmed down and they were sure she'd be alright they left in search of their missed confederate.

"I don't get it," Eve stated, "I mean, why would Hibiki just walk off this track all of a sudden? It's not like him to wander or take risks or anything."

"Hmm, you're right..." Ren rubbed his chin. "But you know he does let his chivalry get the better of him."

"Yeah but..." Eve scrunched his eyebrows, "That still wouldn't explain why he left us."

The two of them continued walking for a while until a light bulb sparked inside of Ren. "That girl!"

"The one that just ran into our camp?" Eve wanted to verify.

"Yeah!" Ren clicked his fingers, "He might've been looking for her because she was in trouble or something."

"Then she might be able to tell us Hibiki's whereabouts!" Eve concluded as the two of them decided to make a quick dash back to the main camp.

Running right past the bloodied spike branch were Hibiki's body once resided...

…

"You were dumped in the sea!?" Erza was clearly shocked to hear this little child's story.

"Yeah, it was really cold and lonely," The little blue haired child mentioned as she held a Styrofoam cup of hot chocolate on her lap. "I don't really remember much else before I woke up here, but I must have been a bad girl to be thrown away like that..." she made herself believe as she took another sip.

"What kind of-" Erza nearly bit her tongue in anger. The thought of somebody neglecting their own child boiled her very veins.

"Do recall who might've done this to you?" the gentle blonde, Lucy, inquired as she sat next to the girl.

"Well, ah..."

…

"Hey watch out Jet!" Droy caught his mate's jacket just as he began slipping down a steep incline.

As the trio continued down the hill, Alzack suddenly stirred up conversation. "Hey guys. Did you hear about the psychopath who lives on this island?"

"Psychopath?"

"What a load of shit," Jet spat on the ground. "Why the fuck would a psychopath live on an uninhabited island?"

"Because it's the perfect set up; he waits for his victims to stray onto the island before he picks them off one by one until they're all dead, forever remaining on the missing person's records..."

"So then what does he do while he waits however long between killings? Besides, if anybody's gonna be causing trouble, it's those feral gangsters in our class," Jet snorted as he leaned his back on a thick tree. "Those douches will probably kill each other or eat each other or something."

"Hehe – yeah, those fuckin' dickheads must have all been born from the same test tube alright!" Droy laughed as he slapped his best mate on the shoulder. "Their parents were probably each other's brother and sister...Fuckin' inbred dogs were made to maul each other."

"Yeah, I hope your legendary psychopath hangs their skin up to dry somewhere!" Alzack joined in the insane laughter. Their banter and laughter had generated quite a lot of noise which would have echoed throughout the forest.

The three nerdier students of Fairy Tail Academy continued their laughter, immersed in their own dark and twisted humor.

...Some rustling in the grass would never had come across their ears.

…

"Lyon was my fucking best mate," Gray sobbed as Natsu carried his arm over his shoulder. Elfman and Gajeel were left to carry Lyon's corpse after piling his innards back inside his gut.

"I know man...I fucking know; just take it easy for a sec while we work this out." The fiery Natsu was still trying to piece together what could have possibly happened. He'd watched plenty of gory horror films in the past; so seeing a dead body shouldn't have been new to him...But in reality, it was quite frightening to see someone you knew well, let alone see anyone at all in such a state...Very much just like those horror movies. "Shit...what are we going to say to Sherry?"

"Oh Man," Elfman suddenly stopped. "We've all just touched his body right now you know."

Gajeel suddenly snapped when he heard those words. "Fuck you're right! Fingerprints man, the cops will be onto us now!"

"How could we do something so stupid?" Elfman began freaking out. "Look, there's blood all over my hands and-"

"Just shut the fuck up for a second guys!" Natsu tried to calm down his hotheaded Dragonslayers. "Look, we're all witnesses right? And we know Gray's innocent."

"But we weren't there when we found his body," Elfman explained.

"Yeah, but Gray had nothing to do with his brother's death, right Gray?"

"Well-" Before Gray could answer, some more witnesses emerged through the bushes.

"_Fuck_ what happened to Lyon?" The Thunder Boyz seemed more fascinated rather than shocked with the sight of a dead body.

"GHYAAAH" Gray suddenly tackled one of the Thunder Boyz to the ground, "FUCKING BASTARDS I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Gray back off! Settle down!" Natsu tried desperately to pull his best mate off of Erigor as the icy teenager continued hissing with psycho rage.

"This is no laughing matter, "Azuma seemed to come through as a tamer of his wild herd. "It was just an accident, wasn't it?"

"_Lyon..._" Anger turned back to pure devastating for Gray as he dug his nails into the dirt.

"It looked like a game trap," Elfman noted after he recalled recovering the corpse, "There were all spikes jutting out and..."

"Hey, just forget about it, 'kay?" Erigor suggested with a slap on the Elfman's back. "It was just a really bad accident 'kay...Just like what happened to Lacky."

"You guys seem awfully calm about this..." Natsu's eyes rolled up towards his Thunder counterparts.

"We're just saying is all..." Erigor raised his arms in mock surrender. "**Bad shit can often come flying back you know...**"

…

Ultear finally returned to the camp, sighing to herself as she waited for her crush to return from his little detour. _He's taking too long...I knew I couldn't rely on him..._

"Oh hey Ultear," Levy called to the mysterious girl as she came hopping outside. "Are you worried about the others too?"

"Not really," she turned away from the bright and cheerful girl, "I just couldn't be bothered standing in there with all the annoying fairy princesses."

It was all she could do to keep the loathing malice out of her every syllable.

"Mmm..." Levy frowned a little, though thankfully she didn't take the goth girl's not so subtle jab to heart. "Well I thought I might go help out Jet and Droy; I'd feel better doing that than just sitting around doing nothing. Just wanted to let everyone before before I took off. Bye!" And with that she headed off after her fan club.

As the bubbly blue haired girl ran down one of the animal trails Ultear scowled. _Stupid brat..._

…

"Those boys sure love taking their time," Mirajane sighed as she gazed outside the cabin window. "I hope they found something to eat..."

"It looks like it's almost sundown," Erza noted, walking over to the window. "We should light a bonfire in case they don't make it back before dark."

"Or just get Lucy to scream." Loki added with some laughter. "If so, then I know how to get the _best _results..."

"Hey!" Lucy growled. "Whatever the case, we should cook up a huge barbeque with whatever Natsu and the others come back with, put a little fun back into this trip!"

"That sounds like a great idea Lucy," Erza smiled. "But we should be able to use whatever supplies we brought over from the ship if they're unlucky."

"I suppose... Oh that reminds me," Lucy got up off the old couch and headed outside, "I should go and find the main phone."

When Lucy left the room, Erza turned back to the newly discovered child, who was now taking a well needed nap on the lounge. _Just who is she? And more importantly, what's she doing alone on an deserted island?..._

…

"Eeew, cob webs!" Lucy shuddered to herself as she peered into the small shed where the landline was located. She noticed the phone fixed on a table at the back of the little shed. "Yes, there it is! Now let's see..." When she reached over for the phone, she suddenly looked more quizzically at the device... "That's strange, the phone has-"

"KYAAAAAAAHHHH!"

"What was that?"

Erza, Loki, Bisca and a few others quickly rushed out of the cabins. "That sounded like Levy."

…

When the small group led by Erza finally caught up to the source of the scream, they found the short, blue-haired girl lying in a crumpled mess at the base of a large tree. "Levy, what's going on here?"

The distraught girl kept her head down, sobbing frenetically with her shoulders convulsing likewise. As the redhead walked closer to her she began hearing a few faint dripping noises. Looking over Levy's shoulder she could see a large puddle forming in front of her legs. ...And when she traced her eyes up to the source of the dripping trail, she soon discovered it was definitely not sap making this young girl so upset.

Somehow, Erza knew from the first sight to block the others from getting any closer. She fanned out her arms, keeping them back to prevent them being exposed to the sheer gruesome display hanging above the lower tree branches.

"What is it Erza?" Bisca suddenly pushed right against the redhead's arm barrier. "What's gotten Levy-chan so- HOLY SHIT, _ALZACK!"_

Erza had failed to stop the only other person she really dreaded would discover this sight the most. As Bisca instantly fell to her knees throwing up on the ground, Erza's eyes remained locked above, taking in the reality that had suddenly befallen her – a reality which had befallen everyone on this island.

Jet.

Droy.

Alzack.

One...Two...Three...

Their hides dangling above the treetops like clothes waiting to dry in the sun...

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

_And this is where Themulchmeister got before he stopped. From here on out it's all me, baby!_


	4. Of Myths and Legends

_And with this chapter we begin the part of the story which was not able to be written last time. More people will die, and more mysteries will be uncovered. _

_But first, let's see how the remaining cast deals with the three new rugs they found..._

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

**Chapter 4: Of Myths and Legends**

"*sniff*, Alzack...," Bisca sobbed, clutching the Stetson hat she always wore tight in her arms. It was no secret that she and the the young, poncho wearing man were an item, so it was kind of inevitable that she would be as distraught as she was.

She was currently lying down in one of the cabins content for the moment to just be alone and let reality sink in. At least she was acknowledging her grief; Levy just shut down, refusing even to speak with everyone else and feverishly pour over the books she brought with her.

There was a knock on the door.

"Bisca, can I come in?"

It was Lucy.

"Yeah," she said, trying to compose herself enough to hold a conversation. Lucy entered the room and sat down on the end of the bed next to her.

"I brought you some hot chocolate," the blond girl said, holding out a steaming thermos, "There was still some left from before."

"Thanks." Bisca sat up, replacing the hat on her head so she could hold the hot chocolate. After taking a cautious sip she turned to the young host, "How's Levy-chan doing?"

"Still pouring over her books," Lucy sighed, "It's like she's in her own little world, and we're just shadows on the far fringes of it."

"Can you really blame her? Those two knew her practically all their lives, and according to some of the stuff Alzack told me-" She paused, the mention of her former lover's name sending a wave of despair through her, "...He said they might have a bit of a crush on her."

Lucy's heart broke; the fact that Jet and Droy had died without ever getting the chance to confess their love to Levy was the most tragic thing in the world. At least that's what the hopeless romantic in her thought.

"I wonder what's worse: never knowing someone loved you, or having you soul mate taken away before..."

"Shh, it's OK..." Lucy leaned over and gave the sniffling cowgirl a hug. "We'll give them a proper burial after Natsu and the others get back, alright?" She felt Bisca nod.

Just then Erza burst into the room, "Shou and Millianna just saw everyone heading back, and it looks like they caught a deer."

…

Jellal had gotten himself thoroughly lost searching for that head of blue hair he thought he saw. If that hair belonged to who he thought it did then he wasn't too late; he knew what she was for, he'd begun to suspect after the ship crashed on the rocks, and he knew what would happen if they remained alive. He wasn't a murderer, but he would make sure that this girl couldn't fulfill the dark destiny she was conceived for.

First things first though, he needed to either find her or find the others so he could enlist their help. ...Though with everything that happened since the start of this trip, the first option was seeming the more likely of the two.

Still, he needed to do this, or by dawn of the next morning, the entire island would be riddled with nothing but rotting corpses...

…

It wasn't a deer.

Unless the deer had whitish silver hair and was leaking gray matter out of its skull.

"Wow, I don't think my mouth is big enough for my foot," Lucy breathed, in reference to her earlier suggestion.

"Sherry's not around here," Natsu asked quickly, "is she?"

"I think she and Juvia decided to take a dip in a lake they found," Loki remembered. "Good thing they did, or she might have freaked once she saw him." He nodded at Lyon's body.

"Small miracles..." Bisca murmured.

"We're gonna give him a man's burial," Elfman said, turning to Lucy, "Is there anything here we can use to dig a proper grave with?"

"Yeah, um...I think there's a tool shed behind one of the cabins," she said. "I'll show you."

"Hey, where are the Thunder Boyz?" Loki asked, "I can't believe they wouldn't try to find the source of..." His eyes traveled to the dark haired young man still holding his dead brother, "I guess it was Gray's scream before."

"We met them," Gajeel sneered, "but we split up after a 'conflict of interests'."

"Meaning they were a bunch of pricks and wouldn't help bring Lyon's body back here," Natsu explained, looking around the campgrounds. "Say, did Jet, Droy, and Alzack get back yet?"

Natsu got his answer when no one would look him in the eye.

…

"How much fucking longer!" Erigor complained, leaning heavily on a branch he'd appropriated as a walking stick, "I feel like _death!_"

"I know, isn't it great!" Vidaldas cheered. Then he turned to Azuma, "But seriously, why can't we just go back to fucking camp and eat the shit there? None of us are fucking hunters, man!"

Azuma was starting think the same thing. He mainly broke off from the Dragon Slayers to keep the situation from escalating to blows, but that was more of a snap decision than a calculated move.

"Maybe you can stand this fucking humidity," the wild haired man snapped at the God of Death Metal, "but not all of us are a bunch of masochists who get off on this shit!" Then he turned around. "I'm going back camp," he stated, trudging off.

"Pussy..." Vidaldus scoffed. He turned back to Azuma, "So, you know anything about hunting?"

Azuma sighed, looking around the immediate forest, "There are tons of little animal trails around here, at least one ought to lead to a burrow."

So the two of them headed off on their hunt, unaware that they themselves were being hunted...

…

Eve and Ren finally got back to the camp site to find everyone preparing to give Lyon a proper send off.

"Geez, the hell did we miss?" Ren asked.

"We found Jet, Droy, and Alzack hanging from a tree," Shou explained, he and Millianna huddled together; neither one really having the constitution to deal with any of this, "Well, their skins at least. Then Natsu and the others brought Lyon's body back."

"Damn..."

"I'm kinda glad we missed it," Eve remarked.

The funeral for Lyon and the others was short, with only Mirajane saying a short remembrance over the graves.

"See you later, Bro," Gray whispered as everyone began to disperse, following suit a few moments later.

The rest of the evening was a somber affair, with everyone eating the canned food in silence.

"I'm worried about Levy-chan," Mirajane said, "she hasn't come out of her her room for quite some time now."

"It is a bit strange," Lucy agreed, "I mean, I know she just lost her two best friends, but..." She paused. "It's kinda scary now, the way she just pours over her books..."

"Not to belittle Levy's issues or anything," Loki interrupted, "but the Thunder Boyz aren't back yet; they should have been back by now, not to mention no one's seen Jellal in-"

CRUNCH!

Everyone turned to Erza, who was now holding the crushed remains of her can of beans.

"OK, maybe not him... But seriously, it's not getting any lighter and we don't know what kind of night life this island is like."

"Yeah, where'd those guys go anyways?" Natsu asked.

"Didn't they say something about going hunting?" Gajeel asked.

"Yeah, I think they did."

"And I believe Juvia and Sherry are still down by the lake,"Mirajane added.

"Someone's going to have to tell them about this sooner rather than later," Erza said, tossing her now ruined meal away, "Any volunteers?"

…

Jellal was running frantically through the woods, now thoroughly and desperately lost.

_Fuck! Where the hell is everyone?_ He wondered, wishing he'd kept better track of where he was going. The sun had nearly set, and what little light there was wouldn't last for much longer. _I could have sworn she went this way..._

It didn't help matters that the foliage was so thick that it sometimes felt he was running through coarse, knotted hair. He probably had all manner of cuts and scrapes on his arms and torso, but, as he kept reminding himself, he had to find that girl and remove her from the equation. Or, barring that, find and warn the others.

Why on earth did he let Ultear manipulate him like he did? He was perfectly happy with Erza before she came along with her skimpy clothes, her sashaying hips, her piercing, almost hypnotic eyes... Of course, it didn't hurt that she was a lot more..."free" than Erza was when he and she were together. He'd had his suspicions for a while, but after the boat got marooned she'd admitted her plan.

He had to stop her from carrying it out at all costs.

…

"...So then Gray-sama and I did it behind the bleachers after the Homecoming game."

Juvia and Sherry were relaxing in a lake on the other side of the hill the cabins were on, waiting for their respective men to get back.

"That is the most cliched move ever!" Sherry exclaimed, slapping the water. "Besides, it probably wasn't _nearly_ as good as when Lyon and I snuck away from the pep rally and did it on top of the faculty building."

"Rooftops are cliché too!" Juvia rebuked, splashing Sherry in return, this in turn devolved into a splash war and lots of giggling.

They weren't alone, however. There was a presence hiding in the bushes, waiting from just the right moment to strike. They were very tempting targets, the being thought, every bit as succulent as the others it had killed already; these two were just shy of prime ripeness and it was incredibly difficult to keep from feeding too early.

But they were almost ready, they just needed one last little push...

"Hey girls, you decent?"

Ah, that push might happen sooner than it expected...

"Of course we are!" Sherry called to Loki, who was descending the wooden staircase that lead to the swimming area, "Who in their right mind goes on a cruise and doesn't pack a swim suit?"

"Fair point," he conceded as he reached the landing.

"Juvia is surprised no one else has joined us," the bluenette remarked. Then she noticed the look on Loki's face, "Is something the matter?"

"Yeah," he sighed, suddenly finding it very hard to look the girls in the eye; it was even harder to form words now too. He knew that despite their apparent rivalry, Sherry and Juvia nearly as good of friends as the brothers they dated were. He also knew that Sherry's past was a rather troubled one and Lyon was a major stabilizing factor in her life.

"Was" being the key word...

"Loki?"

"Loki-kun?"

He took a deep breath. "We're all having a meeting and they wanted me to come get you," he finally managed. ...Dammit! How could he screw up so much courage and still be such a pussy at the same time? "We'll explain the situation there."

…

"Damn boat...*hic!*" Aquarius grumbled, taking another swig from the bottle of expensive alcohol she "liberated" from the galley. The crash had completely destroyed both the rotor and the rudder, so there was very little chance of getting the small yacht mobile again, if any. On top of that, something was interfering with the radio and she couldn't find the emergency beacon or flares that she _explicitly remembered stocking before they left!_ Needless to say, she was taking it all rather well, "you couldn't 'ave picked a better time to *hic!* friggin' crash?"

Thankfully the GPS still worked, so at least they'd know where they were when they all eventually starved to death. She supposed there was some comfort to be taken in-

"*hic!* Waitaminute..." she realized, scrambling to get to the GPS readout.

If her suspicions were correct...

"Yes!" She cried joyously, falling backwards into the pilot's chair. She knew where they were, and where they were had a phone! She got up, intent on finding the kids as fast as she could to tell them the good news...

When she promptly felt straight on the floor.

"Maybe when I'm sober..." she decided, content to just lay there for a while, "*hic!*"

…

"GET THE FUCK OFF ME, BITCH!" Sherry screamed as she was held to the ground by Juvia, Gray sprawled out to the side and nursing a swelling cheek, "I'm gonna kill him!"

"I will _not_ let you hurt Gray-sama!" Juvia growled resolutely in the fuchsia haired girl's ear, applying some more pressure to the hold. "He didn't-"

"_Of course he did!"_ she screamed, glaring daggers, lightning, and whatever else in Gray's direction, "I could tell, he was always jealous of Lyon, just _waiting_ for a chance to get rid of him and steal all the glory... And you did! Well, was it worth it? WAS IT FUCKING WORTH IT?!"

"Shut up!" Juvia shoved Sherry's head into the ground again. She may be friends with the girl, good friends even, but she had a strict policy about _anyone_ slandering her Gray-sama.

"You OK man?" Natsu asked, kneeling next to the dark haired young man. "Don't worry about Sherry, she didn't mean it; she's just taking it hard."

"I know," he said, propping himself up on his elbows, "...But it still hurts worse than that right hook she gave me."

"I have the first aid kit," Mirajane announced, jogging up to Ground Zero.

"Thanks MJ," Natsu said as he helped Gray the rest of the way to his feet.

"Are you gonna be OK, Juvia?" Elfman asked.

"As long as this..._Sherry_ refrains from attacking Gray-sama again," Juvia sighed, "I will be fine."

"Then perhaps you should consider letting her breathe," Karen suggested, her and Angel stepping out of the cabin they'd claimed as their own.

"Oh..." Juvia reluctantly released Sherry's head so the girl didn't have to breath in dirt.

It didn't stop her from glaring hatefully at Gray.

"So...now what?" Lucy asked.

"I think it's obvious?" a new voice interjected. Everyone turned and saw Erigor walking back into camp, "Lock the bitch up until she cools the fuck down."

…

"Dammit!" Levy swore, chucking another book at the wall, "Not this one either..." Since finding the the hides of her long time best friends hanging from a tree she'd had this thought in the back of her mind that she couldn't shake off. Of course she was broken up about the loss, who wouldn't be? But even so, that little thing would not let itself be forgotten, and so she was frantically pouring over every last tome she had in an effort to alleviate this nag.

Problem was, she had so many books on the same subject that it was difficult remember which one had what she wanted, especially with the loss of Jet and Droy still fresh in her mind.

Fortunately she'd already tossed aside most of the volumes and only had a few left to go through. Picking one out of the pile at random, she paused and looked at the title; "Fairy Myths and Legends".

Yes! This was the book she was looking for! She hastily tore through it until she found the article of her search.

"_Fairy History: The End of Fairies"_

"_...Though there has never been any solid evidence to corroborate their stories, people still claim to have been to hidden Fairy villages. Though no trace of their outlandish findings were ever found when those places were searched again, the stories brought back by the survivors all bear an eery similarity to each other, especially since none of them had any apparent knowledge of the others' tales. From these account however, along with existing legends, we can piece together a reasonable picture of their extinction..._

…_Though not much survived from the Fae era, stories of their rituals and practices somehow did. In particular, their parties that lasted for days on end. It was probably during one of these parties that whatever caused their extinction happened. Survivor reports always mentioned damaged huts and pieces of flesh strewn everywhere, as well as dried blood over everything..._

…_Given that the surviving stories painted Fairies as beings in tune with magic what happened was probably something of that nature, such as a magic spell gone wrong. Others speculate that they summoned some type of demon and lost control. Popular belief is that the Fae ascended to a higher plain of of existence, leaving Earth as it was to the humans. (It was rumored that some Fairies stayed behind from that and lived among..."_

Levy closed the book and went for another tome, intent on being 100% sure of her theory before she brought it to the others.

…

Ultear heard all the screaming when they found the first three bodies, and again when Sherry had her episode. Not that she really knew who died, it was just speculation from what she picked up from the screaming; she hadn't set foot back in the camp since her encounter with Levy. She never really understood what Jellal had seen in them before she came along, particularly Erza. She was always too high and mighty for her own good, not to mention too uptight about things that she really shouldn't be. At the end of the day she didn't care, since neither or all her other goody-two-shoes friends wouldn't be around much longer anyways.

That is, as long as the ritual didn't go wrong. And when that was done, immortality would be hers!

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

_To be continued..._


	5. Deepening the Grave

_So who's enjoying this so far? Things are sure taking a dark turn for our intrepid graduates, huh? _

_Who wants more?..._

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

"_Oh you heard what I said fine," Erigor said after being greeted with looks of surprise and disdain, "if the bitch is being so much trouble than lock her up until she calms the fuck down." _

"_Forget about that for a moment," Angel said, stepping forward, "where are Azu-chan and Vid-chan?" _

"_Still 'hunting' or some shit," Erigor shrugged, "we split up a while ago." _

"_Looks like you were _real_ successful," Natsu quipped. _

_Erigor shot him the bird._

"_Natsu," Erza stepped in, "don't make trouble. Erigor, what makes you think locking Sherry up is the best solution?" _

"_Because she doesn't look like she'll listen to reason anymore," he gestured to Sherry, who was still pinned under Juvia, "and I sure as fuck ain't dealing with any of this shit." As he headed back to the cabin the Thunder Boyz claimed, he called "Think about it!", tapping the side of his head and waving jauntily._

…

**Chapter 5: Deepening the Grave**

"I should have fucking gone with Erigor," Vidaldus whined as he and Azuma kept trudging through the underbrush. Neither had found any sort of game since they split up with their comrade and both were starting to feel the effects of their fatigue en force. "Probably fucked Karen by now. And Angel. _At the same time_."

"Is there something you want Vidaldus? You're being too subtle," the dark skinned young man said, well aware of how unsubtle the Metal Maniac was being.

"Azuma, can we _please_ head to camp? We're never gonna find shit out here and we both know it, so let's cut our losses and go make sure Erigor hasn't worn out all the bitches at the camp."

"I agree with you that we won't find anything tonight," Azuma resigned. "Let's head-"

Something grabbed Azuma from behind and pulled him into the shadows.

"FUCK!" Vidaldus screamed, turning around and running like hell as fast as he could. He didn't care about where he ended up, jut so long as he was far, _far_ away from whatever was out there that ate people.

He ran for what felt like hours before he finally burst out of the foliage and onto the beach, just shy of the rocks the boat got stuck on.

Figuring there would be weapons of some kind stashed on board he could defend himself with when that...whatever-it-was that grabbed Azuma caught up with him.

…

At the same time elsewhere, Jellal was trying to scale the side of a deep pit he was currently inhabiting, curse under his breath all the way. He'd tripped into it in his haste to find his..."traveling companions" to warn them of the danger they were all in. The sheer, steep walls of said pit, however, were being singularly uncooperative for him. The wall offered very few handholds, and most of the ones he tried already crumbled whenever he grabbed onto them.

At this moment in time, he was right fucked unless some extraordinary miracle happened.

After many failed leaps to reach a rock that looked more stable than the others had been he slumped down, leaning against the wall in resignation. He was getting nowhere failing blindly like he was, he needed to pause for a moment and think, then maybe he could figure out of this hole he was in.

If only he could get girl out of his freaking mind...

All of a sudden he turned around and punched the wall he was leaning on as hard as he could, his frustration winning out over his desire to think; frustration born of his own feelings of betrayal, of being played like a string instrument. Sighing, he leaned his head against the wall again, a little more forcefully than he intended.

Only to fall back into a small cavern.

_I don't know if I could call this a miracle, _he thought as he made his way into the dark, _but I'll take it._

…

Spirits were rapidly falling with the rest of the Fairy Tail Academy graduates; firstly because of all the people who hadn't made it back to the camp, alive or otherwise, secondly because of Sherry's meltdown.

And now there was a third option that made its presence known.

"I wonder what's keeping Aquarius-san?" Aeries wondered aloud as everyone sat by the fire, rubbing her arm nervously.

This gave everyone pause.

"That's a good point," Jason agreed. He and Aeries were sitting with Shou and Millianna. Lucy, Erza, Loki, and Natsu were sitting with the little girl, Wendy, trying to cheer her up with Natsu's antics. Elfman, Gajeel, Ren, and Eve were play with some cards one of them had brought along. Levy was still in her cabin, pouring over her books like no tomorrow. Juvia and Mirajane were sitting with Gray and Bisca respectively, doing their best to comfort them. Angel was with Mirajane and Bisca, though Karen wasn't with her; most likely putting one of the beds to good use with Erigior. Cana was reclining by herself, nursing a bit of a hangover. Freed was sitting atop one of the cabins, searching the forests for any sign of his comrades. "The other Thunder Boyz and Jellal haven't gotten back either; this is _not_ kewl."

"Not that I really care what happens to them," Millianna said, "but I agree that its bad they're not back yet."

"Why's that?" Shou asked.

"Because that means something's happened to-" She stopped, looked over at Eve and Ren, the continued in a whisper. _"Something's happened to Hibiki."_ She explained after a moment of expectant silence, "The Thunder Boyz are supposed to be really though, right?"

"Didn't stop Laxus from getting what he deserved..." Jason muttered under his breath.

After Aeries nudged him to be quiet, Millianna continued, "Remember how they never lost a fight to anyone, and always ended up having draws with the Dragonslayers? Now I was thinking; if something could keep them from making it back, what chance does Hibiki, who isn't a fighter, have?"

Silence reigned as the grim thought sunk in.

…

Being locked in one of the cabins by herself wasn't doing any wonders for Sherry's mental health; all she could think about was Gray Fullbuster smashing Lyon's head with a rock, or stabbing him with a sharp branch, or pushing him off a cliff, or any number of other things one could get away with on a lonely little island like this one.

Her life had been shit before Lyon came along; her parents had made it abundantly clear that they didn't care what happened to her, as long as she stayed out of their way. No one really paid much attention top her; her grades had been good enough to get by without being too standout to the teachers, and the other students left her alone for the most part. Occasionally the cattier girls would come up to her and taunt her, but she'd become numb to it after a while, since they never came up with anything new. After she met Lyon she'd become more confidant in herself and made friends with the people Lyon knew. She would forever remember that as the time her life turned around.

And then _Gray_ had to ruin it all...

And it had to have been him that did it; it was all so clear to her now! The shirtless bastard was always jealous of his older, handsomer, better brother. Oh he _acted_ like he was friends with his brother, hanging on his every word, but she knew that deep down, he was waiting for an opportunity to take his brother out of the picture and keep all the glory and attention for himself. Yes, that was it... And when they were marooned here he suddenly had the perfect opportunity. He just had to wait until he was alone in a secluded place, and then...

She wanted to hurt him, she wanted to hurt Gray _oh_ so bad. She wanted to make him suffer so much like she was suffering now. Killing him wouldn't be enough, it was too quick, and torturing him wouldn't work either; because although it felt like her heart had been ripped out of her chest, it just wouldn't be the same to do it to him. She needed something that would cut him deeper than any physical pain ever would...

And then it came to her, like a beacon of light in the darkness; if _she_ lost the one person in the world she loved more than anything, then so would he...

…

The cavern was much longer and deeper than it first seemed. Jellal was quite deep into it now, figuring he was probably headed under the mountain. He hadn't come across very many turns and no branching paths, so he was beginning to think he'd come out on the other side of the island. That would put him _much_ farther back than Square 1, but the alternative was going back to that pit he was in before.

After a few more meters he came out into a large expanse that was at least ten times bigger than the tunnels he crawled through, enough so he could stand up. There was moonlight shining down though the ceiling, which was very encouraging for him. The walls looked a lot more stable than the pit, which was even more good news.

He was about to rush over and scale the wall, get his bearings on where he was, when he noticed something glittering in the light that shown down.

Upon closer inspection, he discovered it was the gold chains and headphones Laxus always wore.

And they were still attached to Laxus.

"Damn..." Jellal said, staring at the corpse of the leader of the Thunder Boyz. He was covered in bloody cuts all over his body, including on big one that ran across his chest. Jellal had to give the guy credit, whatever did this to the poor guy had to earn it.

He also noticed that Laxus was clutching something in his left hand. After prying his fingers off it, he saw that it was the golden cassette payer that went with the headphones. Knowing it would eat up more of his precious time Jellal rewound the tape, put the headphones on, and pressed play.

_#OK, the fucker isn't following me anymore. *phew!* Damn, what the fuck was that thing? It was like...I don't even fucking know, man! I just know that I wouldn't even wish this thing on the Dragonslayers on a bad day... Hehe- OW! ...Fuck! Hurts to laugh... Got me pretty good, not that I made it easy for the damn thing... If I don't pass out from blood loss soon, it'll probably find me and finish me off. So, before that happens, I just want to say...I don't even know why I'm recording this shit, man! There's no way any of those other bastards are gonna find this tape, if they even think I'm still alive anyways... I just wish I could have fucked that Erza chick before I go, she how that bitch like _my_ giant sword, hehe- OW! Fuck mother-#_

That was where the tape stopped.

He tore the headphones off and began his mad scramble up the wall, not intent on becoming some creature's meal.

He _had_ to warn the others before it was too late...

…

"Guys, guys!" Levy called, bursting out of her cabin and hurrying over to the others, a load of books in her arms.

"Levy!?" every gasped, surprised that the petite girl was out of her feverish studies and, by all accounts, none the worse for wear.

"Sorry about before," she apologized after catching her breath. She then sat down and began arranging her books, "I'm OK now."

"You sure?" Lucy asked, "I mean, you know..."

Levy sighed, "I'm fine, Lucy; it was a shock finding their hides earlier and I still don't think it's quite sunk in for me yet...but there's something that I think you all need to know." She opened one of the books to a particular page and held it up for all to see. "It finally dawned on me where we are."

"Yeah, we're on Nirvana Island," Lucy said uncertainly, not sure where the aqua haired girl was going with the declaration, "We figured that out wdhen we found the cabins before."

Levy shot the young hostess a look of "Really?".

"My point is, this isn't just some random island Mr. Heartphilia chose to build a resort on..."

Lucy rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, remembering how her father threw darts at a map to pick a building site for his resort.

"...this is an island where Fairies used to live."

Now she _really_ had everyone's attention, if only because it was the last thing anyone expected to hear. .

"What do you mean, 'Fairies'?" Natsu and Wendy asked, though each for different reasons.

Levy turned to the tiny girl, "Didn't your parents ever tell you about them, read you bedtime stories?"

"No," she shook her head, "I think they were the ones who threw me in the ocean."

"What!" Erza gasped, "You didn't tell us this before?!"

"I didn't remember!" she whimpered, hiding behind Lucy from the Scary Lady that was yelling at her.

"Erza, be nice, you're scaring her," Mirajane admonished. She turned to Levy, "Why do you think this is a Fairy island?"

"For one thing, it's listed with other islands around here as being possible locations," the young bookworm continued, "and until re3cently, it wasn't called 'Nirvana' Island. About fifty years ago they changed it to that from its original name, _'Insula Lupus'._"

"What's that mean?" Natsu wondered, never having been one for languages he didn't use regularly.

"It's the Old Language for 'Island of the Wolf'."

"How did you know that, Levy-chan?" Eve asked.

"Remember when we had to do that project for History class? I did mine on the local islands and their histories." She snapped her suspenders and beamed with pride, "I got a 99 for my exhaustive research!" Then she shook herself out of her reverie, "Anyways, I was digging deeper about the island itself and, well..." She grabbed another book from her pile, flipped through it, then began reading. _"'Though certain minor details differ between accounts, in essence they all say the same thing; when the first expedition lands on the island they think is the one, everything seems peaceful, even idyllic. That peace doesn't last long though. After only a few hours is when the death starts, though some accounts say it took longer. Accounts of the deaths themselves are equally as varied; bodies being apart, impaled, even skinned."_

Everyone shuffled awkwardly remembering the three skins they buried.

Levy continued, _"'Soon the paranoia began to set in and the members of the expedition. The members became distrustful of one another, and eventually began killing each other for fear that the others would kill them first. It's at about this point in all the stories that the survivors start claiming that a shapeless monster begins pursuing them, picking each of them off one by one. After this point they claim not to remember much until their eventual rescue. All subsequent trips back to these islands return revealed only the same idyllic setting the survivors' stories depict...'"_ Levy closed the book, "After that it just goes on about the other theories about the Fairies disappearance."

"Am I the only one who thinks that scenario rings just a little too true to the one we're in now?" Gajeel asked. "I'd call for a show of hands, but I already know everyone's thinking it."

"Then why'd ask if we were thinking that if you knew we were?" Natsu not so smartly asked.

"Oh screw you, ya fruity haired pyromaniac!" Gajeel retorted, shooting Natsu the bird.

"You trying to start something with me, ya metal pierced bastard?" Natsu challenged, rising to his feet as he cracked his knuckles, "Cause I'm starting all fired up here-"

"Both of you, SIT," Erza commanded, her voice leaving no room for argument.

"Yes Ma'am!" they both said, immediately dropping into the _seiza_ position.

"We have enough problems to deal with already without squabbling uselessly among ourselves," the red headed woman explained. She sighed, "I know we're all on edge from getting shipwrecked here, and from four of our friends dying, but if we start getting paranoid then we'll all end up dead before morning!" She turned to Levy, "Do you know how far from the mainland we are?"

"Um..." Levy leafed through one of the books, "just give me a minute."

"You have something in mind?" Angel asked.

"I do," Erza said, "If Aquarius-san doesn't find anything structurally wrong with the boat I was thinking we could rig up some kind of sail for it and just float back."

Needless to say, everyone thought this was a great idea.

"That settles it then," Lucy chimed in, "we'll all get a good night's sleep, then tomorrow we can-"

BOOM! An explosion rang out in the night.

"Freed," Erza called, hoping the Thunder Boy had seen something from his high vantage point, "what happened?"

"I think you might want to see if that phone still works Lucy," he said slowly, his face getting even paler than it normally was. "The boat just exploded."

…

Ultear heard the explosion clearly, glancing up from the glyph she was tracing on the ground a ways away from the camp.

_Well, that was bit of a wrinkle in my plans_, she thought as she returned to her glyph.

She wasn't too worried about it though, once she was immortal she would have all the time in the world to figure a way back to the mainland. Hell, she could swim all the way back herself if she wanted too, it's not like she would die any time soon. She didn't really want to tire herself out like that though, so it was more likely she'd work on a boat or something in between her time learning all the other secrets of the Fae.

With the glyph finished she went and knelt in the center of it, taking a small knife out from her back pocket and flipping it open. As she made a tiny slit on the tip of her finger she began reciting the Old Language, _"Exáudi me, spiriti! Accepta oblatio sanguinis et in sanguine alieno..."_

…

It took a while, but Sherry finally worked her way out of her bonds. She heard the commotion outside when Levy was babbling about something or other, not really caring what it was about. A little while later someone came in and told her that everyone was going to bed for the night and left a plate of food for her. She'd taken her time eating the food, waiting long enough to make sure everyone was asleep. Now it was just a matter of reaching her target without anyone hearing her.

While the door was locked from the outside, everyone had conveniently forgotten to make sure the window was secured as well. Just about every room in these cabins had a window from what she saw earlier when they'd first arrived, but they'd just seemed to want her out of the way until they could figure things out, so she wasn't complaining; all the easier to escape her makeshift prison in the end.

The window creaked slightly as she slid it open, but not loudly enough for anyways else to hear it. Checking to make sure the coast was clear, she squeezed through the frame and dropped onto the ground outside. OK, now she had to find something shard to help her deal justice to the man who took her only reason for living away...but where to look? She seemed to remember a smaller building a little ways off from the rest, maybe it was a tool shed? It made sense, they certainly didn't bring the shovels next to those freshly dug graves with them on the boat.

She spotted it a few moments later and made a beeline for it. There was someone minding what was left of the fire, but they were facing away from her and looked more than a little drowsy. The shed wasn't locked, (they must have forgotten to before), and the door swung open quietly. After a brief scan of the contents her eyes settled on a large pair of sheers, which she grabbed and then headed off to find the cabin Gray was sleeping in.

After a couple wrong windows (she had the misfortune to peer into Erigor's room) she found the one that held her quarry. There was Gray sleeping all peacefully, Juvia cuddled up next to him. Gently, she eased the window open, then climbing through herself.

They looked so cute together; the jealous betrayer and his whore. She crept to the bed, careful not to step on any loose boards. She was by the bed in no time, grinning wickedly at the two that slept there. As she raised the large sheers a small giggle escaped her lips.

As she brought them down on Juvia's throat it grew into a gleeful cackle. This felt good, this felt...right. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, and she was enjoying every minute of it.

So much so that she didn't even notice when her head was bashed against the wall.

_/_/_/_/_/_/_/_/

**Translations:**

"_Hear me, spirits! Accept the offering of my blood and the blood of others."_


End file.
